Why Manny Diaz is leading Miami’s recruitment of this four-star Gulliver Prep linebacker
In nearly all circumstances, college football coaches have not been allowed to make in-person contact with recruits. There are a handful of exceptions, and Manny Diaz has used a few of them to get some face time with one of the Miami Hurricanes’ top targets for the Class of 2022 in recent months.
Travious Lathan, a four-star outside linebacker for Miami Gulliver Prep, has gotten to see Diaz in person multiple times in the past two months because Diaz’s son, Gavin Diaz, is an athlete at Miami Westminster Christian.
“He’s here frequently because his son plays against our lacrosse team,” Lathan said last Tuesday in Pinecrest. “He hits me up every day, just asking how my practices are going.”
Diaz also got to see Lathan work out in person at an Under Armour All-America Camp in March at Ives Estates Park — Gavin Diaz is also a linebacker at Westminster Christian, so he and Lathan went through drills together in Ives Estates while Manny Diaz watched.
Lathan is the No. 2 linebacker in South Florida, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and the position remains a major need for the Hurricanes in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Lathan fits exactly the mold Miami is looking for, so Diaz has taken the lead in his recruitment, Lathan said, and the two talk “every day.”
Lathan, who also talks frequently with defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson, will be in Coral Gables as soon as the dead period ends next month for Miami’s cookout and said he’s “going to just go on every unofficial I can” once on-campus visits are allowed again in June.
His June will be busy, though. Lathan has three official visits lined up, as well as another unofficial as he tries to absorb as much as possible after nearly 14 months of not being allowed to visit schools because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Just how it feels, the rush, how it feels to be around coaches,” Lathan said when asked what he’ll be looking for. “I get to talk to them face to face. I haven’t got that in a long time, so that’s what I’m mainly looking forward to.”
Lathan will take his first official visit with the Pittsburgh Panthers the first weekend of June, then visit the West Virginia Mountaineers the following weekend and the Indiana Hoosiers the third. He also plans to take an unofficial visit with the LSU Tigers in the first week after the dead period ends and is planning an unofficial visit with the Oregon Ducks for July.
Lathan said he will hold off on his LSU and Oregon official visits until the season, so he can go check out the game-day atmosphere. He’s eyeing a September commitment.
One of the most important factors in his commitment will be how the coaches plan to use him at the next level.
The Hurricanes, he said, envision him as a striker in their defense, which makes sense. Lathan’s calling card is his athleticism and versatility.
Lathan was always mostly a wide receiver until Gulliver Prep needed someone to fill it at linebacker for a junior varsity game when he was a freshman. Lathan, only about 160 pounds at the time, stepped in and looked good, and Gulliver stuck with him as a two-way player ever since. Last season, the junior caught 14 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, ran for a two-point conversion and recorded 20 tackles in just six games. On defense, he moved all over the field, playing some outside linebacker, strong safety and even nickelback.
This year, he expects to mostly play outside linebacker, although he will also cover receivers in the slot. The 6-foot-2 athlete look likes a linebacker and still moves like a wideout.
“They needed me and then I fit the description well,” Lathan said, “so I ended up staying.”
So far, it has worked out and quarantine, he said with a laugh, was actually good for him because it gave him a chance to focus on bulking up to make the move to linebacker full-time. He said he now weighs about 207 pounds, which is up just a little bit from what he played at in 2020.
The big focus this spring is just honing his defensive skill set. He’s already one of the most coveted linebackers in Florida and he knows he has another level to get to.
“I don’t watch my film,” Lathan said. “I cringe every time I watch it, like, ‘Damn, I could’ve made this play, I could’ve made that play,’ but I know there’s a lot of things I messed up last year that I could’ve done right, so I’m definitely focusing on that this year.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 1:57 PM.
